Old Friends
by BrokenClockworkFox
Summary: Lukas and Emil were friends from the start. More like brothers, actually. That's why it was so painful when they were separated. Emil's family moves back to Iceland, leaving Lukas to feel alone and without a brother. But things changed. The next time they meet, only one of them will remember everything.
1. Chapter 1

Lukas flopped down in the snow, letting out a huge sigh and closing his eyes. His fingers were cold and stiff despite his thick gloves and his bangs were plastered to his forehead by melted snow. He wished he had brought a heavier coat. Winter in Norway had always been this way, but there was nowhere Lukas would rather be.

"Halló?"

Lukas opened one eye, gazing up at another boy. This boy was leaning over him, his silvery hair falling forward to cover his cheeks. He must have been a few years younger than the eight-year-old Lukas. Maybe four or five?

"Halló?" The boy repeated. His amethyst eyes were unreadable, vacant of all emotion.

Lukas was quiet for a while. "Hallo." He whispered. Slowly, he sat up. The boy, who had previously been sitting behind him, crawled to his side.

"My name is Emil." The smaller boy said quietly. He tilted his head to the side, waiting for Lukas to introduce himself too.

"I'm Lukas." He shivered softly from the cold. He would probably have to go back home and get another jacket.

"Would you like my coat?" Emil asked, but he shed off his sweater before Lukas could respond. He clutched it to his chest for a moment, then held it out. He wasn't even shivering, as if unaffected by the freezing snow. That surprised Lukas. He was a shaking mess and this young boy seemed to be made of snow himself. With pale skin and silver hair it wasn't hard for him to believe that.

"Won't you be cold?" Lukas asked, his brow furrowed with concern. He didn't want the little boy to get sick or anything. It seemed selfish to take Emil's only source of warmth away from him.

"It's okay, I live somewhere really cold." Emil insisted. He rested the sweater in Lukas's lap with the faintest of smiles. He _really_ wanted Lukas to take his sweater.

"... Okay." Reluctantly, Lukas pulled the smaller boy's sweater over his own. It was a bit small but that didn't matter. "Thank you." He wanted to return the smile, but he didn't. He wasn't sure why. He just didn't. "Would you like to come play with me and my friends?" Lukas tilted his head. He wanted to get to know this boy better. He was kind, and kindness wasn't something he usually received from his two friends Mathias and Berwald.

Emil's expression brightened at the offer. "Yes please!" He got to his feet, brushing snow off of his clothes.

"Come on." Lukas took Emil's hand and led him away. They walked on a path, almost concealed by ice and frost, across the white field where they had met. The trail continued for a few more feet until it turned into the trees. Lukas sped up at the bend, heading straight for the jungle gym at the edge of the path. A few other children played there, but two in particular came over to meet Lukas and Emil.

"Who is that?" The tallest pointed at Emil, while the other stayed silent. He was no doubt the oldest, and his hair was unnaturally spiky. The other boy was _terrifying_. He had an intense gaze, and he was staring directly at Emil. The little boy stepped closer to Lukas and squeezed his hand.

Lukas glanced down at Emil for a moment. "These are my friends Mathias and Berwald. This is Emil." He introduced each one of his friends.

Emil simply nodded. He was to shy to say anything. Especially with Berwald staring at him.

"Wanna come play with us?" Mathias asked as he leaned over so he could look Emil in the eye. A wide grin spread across his face. He was glad to have a new friend.

Emil nodded again. He still wasn't sure to say or do. Only when Lukas started walking to the jungle gym did he move. He allowed the other boy to lead him _past_ the gym and into the woods. Mathias eventually took the lead, followed by Lukas and Emil with Berwald at the rear. They continued this was for a while, the trees growing thicker and thicker until they suddenly stopped. They came out into a dark clearing, with only a few beams of sunlight reaching through the tightly knit branches above. There were several large boulders stacked at one end of the clearing, creating a sort of cave-like one side of the boulders, a small stream ran through the clearing and farther into the forest.

"Come on." Mathias said excitedly. He ran over to the boulders and disappeared into a gap in the stone. Berwald raced after him without a word and Lukas sped up his pace as well. Lukas and Emil were the last to crawl in. It was pitch black.

"G't a light." Berwald mumbled. There was a shuffling sound, then a flicker of golden light. Mathias was holding a flashlight in one hand.

The interior of the fort was much nicer than one would expect by looking at it from the outside. There were several layers of blankets on the floor to make it more comfortable and a pile of flashlights in the corner in case the current one ran out of battery. In another corner was a large stack of board games and soda. Even though you needed to crouch or crawl to avoid bumping your head, it was kind of nice.

"Pretty cool, right?" Mathias asked, his blue eyes almost glittering with pride.

"Don't brag, Mat." Lukas punched him in the arm, getting a quiet squeal in response. "It's not nice to brag."

"I do like it though." Emil said quickly. He didn't want the two to start fighting.

"See?" Mathias poked Lukas in the side. Lukas simply grunted and moved backwards to lean against the cool stone walls. Emil followed. He snuggled against the older boy for warmth, finally giving in to the freezing cold.

"I told you. I told you that you would get cold."


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: Thank you so much for all the favorites! and those reviews thank you! I really wasn't expecting anyone to like my stories, and I definitely didn't expect to get good reviews and all the favorites. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! And... I am really sorry for the short chapters. I'm going to try and make them longer, I promise.  
**

"Stóri bróðir!" Emil chased after his friend with a wide grin. "Big brother, wait!" He laughed quietly. They were running through the field on their way to the fort. As he was running, he failed to notice the hole buried beneath layers of snow. He tripped and fell, landing on his hands and knees. Tears formed in his eyes, but he didn't cry.

Lukas glanced back to make sure his lillebror was still following. When he saw Emil on the ground, he turned back to see what was wrong. "Emil? Are you okay?" He crouched down next to him, his expression as close to concern as it would ever be.

"My leg hurts really bad." He tried to get up but Lukas pushed him back down.

"I'm getting my Mom." Lukas said quietly. As he was getting up, however, Emil grabbed onto his leg with one arm and refused to let go.

"Don't leave me alone," he whimpered. True, Emil was in pain, but the last thing he wanted was to be alone. And so Lukas sat. He pulled Emil close in an attempt to comfort him, and scanned the field for any sign of another child or an adult. Only when he saw a familiar face did he call out.

"Arthur!"

**_-Time Skip-_**

It was two days after Emil sprained his ankle, and seven since he met Lukas. The older boy was hovering over him any chance he got, determined that he would keep Emil safe. Of course to their parents this was absolutely adorable, but to Lukas it was serious buisness. It was his job as Emil's stóri bróðir to take care of him.

"Oh hello Lukas." Emil's mother Clara greeted him with a smile. "Come on in." She let Lukas and his father inside, closing the door behind them. "Emil is in his room." Clara said to the boy. Lukas nodded and ran down the hallway. He slowly pushed open Emil's door, poking his head inside.

"Emil?"

"Hi Lukas." Emil muttered dejectedly. He was sitting in the floor, staring lifelessly at the television in the corner.

"What's wrong?" Lukas sat next to his friend, looking over at the televison to see what he was watching.

"Mommy and daddy said we're moving back home." Emil replied, his voice almost a whisper. It broke his heart to say it, but he had to. His aunt was killed in a car accident and both grandparents had fallen ill, so his parents had decided to move back to Iceland. Emil didn't think it was fair, but his mother and father weren't going to listen.

"Why?" Lukas whispered. He was more upset than he was letting on. His expression remained its default, but inside he wasn't sure what to feel.

Emil simply shrugged. "We're going in a few days." He looked over at Lukas for the first time that day. It looked like he had been crying. Slowly, he closed the gap between Lukas and himself. They hugged for a while, Emil resting his head on the older boy's shoulder. It was more comfortable that way. For both of them.

"I don't want to leave." Emil cried. His voice was muffled by Lukas's shoulder. "I want to stay with you stóri bróðir." He sniffled softly.

Lukas didn't say anything but he felt the same way. Who was going to protect Emil? Who was going to sit in the snow with him when he hurt his ankle? Surely someone would fill that 'big brother' role right? For Emil's sake? "I'll call," he said after a while of quiet sobbing.

"Really?" Emil lifted his head, wiping his eyes and nose with his sleeve. He looked Lukas directly in the eye.

"Yes." Lukas dried Emil's cheek with his thumb, smiling in the faintest as the younger boy struggled to move his head away.

"Lukas." His father opened the door, staring directly at his son. "Your mother called, we need to get back home." He had a sad look in his eye, which was unusual for Lukas's normally upbeat and optimistic father. "Your cat just died." Great. Things just kept getting better and better. Lukas got to his feet, walking over to his father after waving Emil a quick good-bye. "Come on."

Lukas pressed his forehead against the car window, staring out at the street. Emil would be better off in Iceland right? He was born there after all. His family was there. Lukas assumed he would eventually be replaced as a big brother figure. There would be someone to look after his lillebror when he couldn't be there. After a while, he started to calm himself down. He reassured himself that Emil would be happy and well-taken care of.

...

Lukas never called.


	3. Chapter 3

Emil walked down the empty corridors, still staring down at the card he held in his hand. On the card was the dorm room he would be staying in, and the classes he would be attending. With a quiet sigh, Emil shoved the paper into his pocket.

It was his first day at his new school. He had finished his last year of middle school in Iceland, and transferred to a boarding school in Norway. Sometimes he wished he had stayed in his little house in Reykjavik. Being in Oslo brought back painful memories that he wasn't ready to relive.

Emil stumbled backwards as someone sprinted down the hallway, bumping into him and almost making him drop his bag in the process. "Sorry!" The stranger called as he ran past. Emil vaguely recognized the spiky blonde hair, but it didn't matter. He shrugged and continued down the hallway. Then it hit him. "Mathias!" He whipped around; trying to get another look at what he presumed was a childhood friend. No luck. Emil sighed and continued in the opposite direction that Mathias had gone.

He checked the number of each dorm, until he stopped in front of the one that matched the card. This was his room. He knocked, hoping his roommate would answer since he wasn't given a key or anything. Sure enough, a cheery-looking young man opened the door and smiled warmly.

"Oh hello, you must be my new roommate. I'm Tino." He stepped aside, allowing Emil to enter. "You got here just on time. Lunch just started. You can unpack now, but you wouldn't get as long to eat."

"I'll unpack later." Emil sighed and tossed his bag in the floor, eyeing the school uniform folded neatly on the bed. "Do I need to put that on?"

"Yes. I'll be waiting outside for you." Tino's smile widened as he left the room.

Emil started peeling away his clothes and changing into the itchy uniform. He looked in the mirror leaning against the wall. Honestly, he thought he looked good. He took a deep breath, and then met Tino in the hallway. "Lead the way."

Tino started off back in the direction Mathias had gone. He just kept talking and talking, so Emil decided to completely tune him out and daydream for the rest of the walk. He wondered if that really was Mathias. If it was, then did that mean Lukas was going here too? His heartbeat sped up a bit, and he bit his lip. Surely he wouldn't just stumble across someone like that after many years. The odds were very unlikely, but all he could do was hope that it was true.

"Hey, what's your name?" Emil was snapped back to reality when Tino poked his arm. "What's your name?" He repeated.

"Oh, Emil. Sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. Maybe daydreaming wasn't such a good idea. Now Tino would think he was ignoring him, which he was, but Tino didn't need to know that.

"We're here, Emil." Tino stopped by a large door. He pulled it open, revealing the large cafeteria. It wasn't anything special. There was a line in the corner where you could pick what you wanted to eat, and a series of circular tables dotted here and there. From the looks of it, there were also tables outside. There were a few students out there, but the majority was inside. Tino was already started off for the lunch line, dragging Emil by his wrist. "They have great food here, nothing like ordinary school stuff." His smile was as wide as ever.

Emil scanned over the crowd of students, desperately searching for Mathias. He was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. Emil, now released from Tino's killer grasp, was free to look over the lunch options. He picked quickly, not quite caring what he got. The line was quick, and soon Tino was pulling me through the maze of tables.

"If you'd like, you can sit with me." Tino offered.

"Oh, sure." Emil nodded. He didn't care that Tino talked a lot, it was good to be accepted somewhere.

"This is our table." Tino pulled a chair out and sat down, motioning for Emil to sit as well.

Emil's eyes widened as the other three sitting at the table turned to look at him. Mathias, Berwald, and… Lukas. Emil almost dropped his tray, his hands were shaking so badly. It really was them… all of his old friends, and Lukas. They hadn't changed much from the looks of it. Berwald had gotten glasses and he was a bit taller than Mathias. Mathias stayed relatively the same, and the only change Emil saw in Lukas was the cross that pinned his bangs up.

"Are you going to sit down?" Lukas asked, looking up at Emil with those emotionless blue eyes. After noticing that he had been standing for a while, the Icelandic student quickly sat down in his seat. Something wasn't right, though. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Guys this is Emil. Emil, meet Mathias, Lukas, and Berwald." Tino said with a wide smile.

"Nice to meet you!" Mathias said, his mouth still full of food.

"Idiot, swallow before you talk." Lukas took his juice box and squeezed it, shooting its contents at the older student. Mathias frowned and tried to wipe the juice away with his napkin.

"You're so mean Nor." He whined. "I'm going to go change." Mathias got up and grabbed his tray.

"Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you Emil." Lukas dropped the deflated juice box and turned to look at him.

Emil's heart sank. Lukas didn't remember him, did he? They were apart for years after all, it wasn't a big surprise. But Emil couldn't help but feel hurt. They may have only bonded for a week, but that bond was strong. Wasn't it? "The pleasure is all mine." He replied politely.

It was quiet after that. Well, with the exception of Tino rambling on about something useless to Berwald. Emil stabbed at his food, but barely ate any. Lukas ate most of his food, and then excused himself. Emil did the same.

"I'll be in the room." Emil stood up and went to dump his tray, following Lukas to the line of trash bins lined against the wall. "Lukas." He sped up, walking side by side with his old friend. "Hi."

"Hi." Lukas looked back at him. His blank expression made Emil sick. Half of him wanted to try and tell Lukas who he was, but the other half was holding back.

"Nevermind." Emil muttered as he dumped his trash into a bin. "I'll see you around." He tossed his tray on the pile of other dirty trays and made for his room. Why? Why couldn't he just tell Lukas? It wasn't that hard. But still, part of him was against it. Would they have a higher chance of… maybe… becoming more than friends if the older student didn't know who he was? Emil mentally facepalmed. Why was he thinking like that? He sighed, turning his attention to the maze of hallways he was now lost in. If only he had paid more attention when Tino was leading him to the cafeteria…

**-  
Erm... sorry for the bad ending. It's 2:34 AM here but I really wanted to get this done and upload it. Anyway, here's chapter 3 I hope you enjoyed it**


	4. Chapter 4

**Well. This is late.  
An old friend stopped by. His name is Writers Block. He kinda... stabbed my soul with a spork.  
I WAS doing daily updates, but that may change for as long as I am cursed. And when I get writers block, it stays A LONG TIME.  
Anyway, that's why the chapter is so short and...awful.  
-**

Emil flopped backwards onto his bed, letting out a soft groan. The day had seemed to drag on and on. There were no words to explain how happy he was in that moment.

Only three days in his new school, and Emil was already dreading the rest of the year. He didn't have any classes with Lukas, Berwald, or Mathias because they were all a few years older than he was, but he shared a few with Tino. It was Tino's job to teach him how things worked, anyway. He had also invited Emil to join the Scandinavia Club, which was a group founded by Mathias. Most of the spots had been filled, with Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands still open. Of course he had agreed.

With a loud, exaggerated sigh, Emil sat up and dug out his notes. Might as well catch up on some work, right?

There was a soft knock at the door. Tino shot up to answer it.

"Oh hello Feliks." Tino smiled. Emil mentally screamed. Feliks was a friend of Tino's friend's friend. At first, Emil had mistaken him for a girl. He realized that he was in fact male after missing several of Tino's little hints. He couldn't remember being that embarrassed before in his life.

"Your man is, like, looking for you." Feliks invited himself in, plopping down on Tino's bed and adjusting his skirt.

"Ah, shut up!" Tino's face when completely red and he glanced over at Emil.

Feliks smirked. "Finny here's got that sexy Swede wrapped around his finger," he said to the Icelandic student.

"Cut it out, it's not like that." Tino crossed his arms and stared down at the floor.

"Anyway…" Feliks was done taunting Tino. For now. "Emil, got anyone special?" He grinned.

Emil hesitated. "No, not really. I'm not very good with relationships." He replied casually. It was true. He had never kept a girlfriend for more than a few days. Eventually he had just stopped trying.

"Hmm…" Feliks thought for a moment. "I know! I could totally hook you up with that guy, Lukas." He said excitedly. Feliks was obviously enjoying playing matchmaker.

Emil's eyes widened. What did he just say? "Nah." He preferred to keep his pride.

"Come on, I see the way you look at him. Not that I was watching…" He said quietly, barely noticing as Tino slipped out of the room. "Plus, you hesitated when I, like, asked if you had anyone special. That means there's someone you do like!" Emil assumed the Polish student was jumping to conclusions when he said that. There was no way he really liked Lukas, right? I mean, they were both male. His parents had always told him that it was wrong. That it was a sin to love someone of the same gender. They were right… weren't they? I mean, he didn't want to disrespect his parents.

"I don't like anyone." Emil replied with an irritated tone. "Not Lukas. Not anyone."


	5. Chapter 5

"And he totally likes you." Feliks didn't look up from painting his nails. "Of course he, like, denies it but it's totally obvious." He lifted his hand to his face and breathed over the fresh layer of bright pink nail polish.

Lukas was quiet for a moment. Feliks, a student the Norwegian had never met before, showed up at his door not long ago. And that was what he wanted to tell him? Sure, he thought the silver haired boy was cute, but he barely knew him. He seemed familiar, but he was sure they had never met before his first day at the school.

"And?" Lukas's tone was dull, as if he wasn't the least bit interested in anything Feliks had to say.

"And, you should totally ask him out." He finally looked up.

"I don't think so." Lukas sighed. One, Mathias would have a conniption fit. Two, what if this was a prank to embarrass him? He didn't want to take the chance.

"Like, why not?" Feliks asked with an irritated tone.

"I have my reasons."

"Well they better be good reasons. I'm going to tell Emil all about this little conversation." He laughed and gathered up his nail polish. "Seeya." He threw open the door and left.

Lukas shook his head. If that was supposed to make him change his mind, it wasn't working. He curled up on his bed, resting his head on his arms and trying to ignore the strong smell of nail polish that Feliks had left behind. Just as he closed his eyes, he heard the door open.

"Hey Nor." Mathias threw his bag down into the floor. "What's up with Feliks? I ran into him in the hallway." He sat on the edge of Lukas's bed.

"It's nothing." He opened one eye to look up at the cheerful Dane.

"Come on tell me." Mathias whined, turning so that he could lie down next to the Norwegian.

"Get out of my bed." Lukas tried to shove him over the edge, but Mathias clung to the mattress as if his life depended on it.

"Ouch, stop stop stop!" Mathias pleaded.

Lukas huffed and crossed his arms. "I'm going to sleep." He rolled to face the other direction, suggesting that the conversation was over.

Mathias sat quietly for a moment, then slid off the bed and returned to his side of the room. "Night Lukas."

Lukas didn't fall asleep right away like he usually did. He stared at the wall for what seemed like hours. And after a while, he had Mathias's loud snoring to deal with. Sometimes he wished he could kill his roommate, one of those moments being right then. But it did give him time to think. Somehow his mind kept drifting to the cute little Icelandic boy Feliks was talking about. He did like Emil… but he barely knew him. While there was a voice in the back of his head saying otherwise, he knew what Feliks said couldn't be true. It couldn't. He didn't know why. He had a strong feeling that it was for his own good. Maybe after they knew each other better, there could be something between them. If Emil even liked him, that is. It could be just a joke to try and embarrass Lukas. Maybe Mathias himself had put Feliks up to it. No, that couldn't be it. The Dane was always seeking Lukas's attention, and treated him different from everyone else. And not in a bad way, either. It was no secret that Mathias was trying to get close to the cold Norwegian. He would never tell Lukas that someone liked him. Somaybe it was true. Maybe.

* * *

**Okay, now for some news. Since I'm not to happy with the direction this story is going ( mostly due to the fact that I wrote most of the chapters at 1:00 AM ) I am going to wrap it up pretty quickly. Besides, I want to get started on a new project. One that I will be able to work on a bit more. I will be planning the chapters a bit more in-depth and hopefully NOT writing very early in the morning :I**


	6. Chapter 6

**Woah, sorry for the late update ;D; I was seriously stuck on this chapter. But my friend Sagishi came down from heaven and saved my butt. So if you see the style of writing change it's because she wrote most of it. Yeah. Anyway, if you want to read some really good Character x Reader stories look up SagishiKaneko on DeviantART. She's an amazing writer ( in my opinion, better than myself ) and she deserves some more watchers. Yus. And she was also kind enough to wrap the story up, so now I can start on some SuFin yey...  
I'm also going to plan out the chapters more so it's more organized and not all gross and sloppy and bad and awful :I**

* * *

The next few days were awkward and uncomfortable. Especially lunch, when Emil and Lukas were closest. Both of them knew what Feliks had said, but neither of them wanted to bring it up. But it was slowly eating away at both of their minds. Emil continues to grow more in love with Lukas and Lukas was slowly realizing that he loved Emil as well.

Lukas slapped his face as he thought about what had happened earlier that day. Emil had finally come up to him with a blush covering his face. He seemed to fidget more than usual and Lukas wasn't feeling too comfortable himself.

"Hey Lukas, I have something that I need to tell you." Lukas tried to act as if he really didn't care, but to be honest, he was very curious to see what Emil had to say.

"What is it?" Emil started to talk more than once but seemed to be failing very badly. Finally he built up the courage and quickly spit it out.

"I really like you Lukas! Would you go out with me!?" Emil was so red it was hard to believe he wasn't a tomato. Lukas was shocked.

"I need to think about it." Emil seemed to deflate rapidly. He nodded his head and ran away down the hall.

Now Lukas was at home and feeling as guilty as ever. He had finally figured out that he did love Emil.

"I just have to suck it up and tell him. Maybe I can accept his offer from earlier. Lukas walked out of his dorm and started to run to Emil's. He knocked on the door, and Emil answered. His face immediately turned red.

"Oh, hi Lukas. What did you want?" Lukas was out of breath and as soon as he could speak he stood up strait and looked at Emil. He took a step forward and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. Emil stood in place but soon kissed back.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I love you Emil, can I please take the offer from earlier?" Emil nodded and they both kissed again.

"I love you too, stóri bróðir..."


End file.
